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San Diego, CA (November 27, 2018) – For the past several years, Dakota Dickerson Racing has supported two charities that he holds dear to his heart, Shelter to Soldier and Nowzad. Both groups work with military veterans and with rescue animals but in different ways. The young driver has always had a strong connection to the military and as an owner of rescue dogs himself, he wanted to use his racing platform to help raise funds and awareness for these two organizations.

Two supporters of Shelter to Soldier with Dakota at Laguna Seca.

Shelter to Soldier’s motto is Saving Lives, Two at a Time. Their mission is to bring post 9/11 combat veterans together with professionally trained rescue dogs to help both recover and move forward from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or other psychological injuries associated with traumatic service experiences. Graham Bloem, Founder, President and Director of San Diego based Specialty Dog Training and Shelter to Soldier, has been training dogs professionally for over 15 years. He has a true understanding of dog behavior and is passionate about animal rescue and giving back to men and women in uniform.

Since becoming involved with Shelter to Soldier, Dakota most recently donated some of his racing equipment and a race weekend experience for a raffle by Shelter to Soldier at their annual Gala held in San Diego. The prize package was well received and as such, Dakota was able to spend time with two supporters of Shelter to Soldier during the Intercontinental GT Challenge race in Monterey, CA this past month.

The Nowzad connection is as follows.

With Pen and Hanna, founders of Nowzad.

Nowzad operates and manages the only animal sanctuary in the Afghanistan area. They care for and nurture animals that have been hurt or abused. They also deliver educational seminars to the Afghanistan locals on how to properly care for the animals. In addition to this, brave men and women serving in a war zone find themselves adopting stray cats and dogs that are struggling to survive there. The soldiers are not only a salvation for the animals, these animals are a lifeline to the soldiers, providing a respite from war, a moment of peace and home and love.

When the soldier’s tour of duty comes to an end, it is unthinkable to leave their four-legged comrade homeless.This is where Nowzad steps in to help. They arrange legal and safe passage for the animals to be reunited with the service men and women after their time in Afghanistan has ended.

Dickerson ran a fundraiser for Nowzad during rounds 13-15 of the F4 US Championship. People from around the world donated to Nowzad and were able to put their furry loved one’s name on Dickerson’s helmet and Formula 4 car. He was able to raise over $1,300 and later met with founders, Pen and Hanna, in San Diego to go over future plans.

Dakota proudly wears the logos of his two favorite charities.

“These two charities do so much remarkable work. I first met Shelter to Soldier in 2016 and was so impressed by how humble and generous both Graham and Kyrie were. They are able to save a tremendous number of dogs from shelters in the San Diego area, and to watch them then train these dogs to help our service men and women is amazing to see. I later heard of Nowzad and their story last year and felt very connected with what they are achieving both for animals and veterans alike. I am so grateful that we are able to support these charities, and hope that we can make an even greater impact in the years to come.”

Dakota Dickerson is a third generation racer from San Diego, CA. The 21 year old has been racing since he was 6 years old and recently won the 2018 F4 US Championship with DC Autosport. In his first two years of racing cars he won a Driver Development scholarship from Bryan Herta Autosport (2 time Indianapolis 500 winning team), a Karts to Cars scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School, was chosen to be one of two drivers to represent the United States overseas via the Team USA Scholarship and was the 2016 USF2000 Mazda Scholarship Driver. With this success, he hopes to continue on to the Verizon INDYCAR Series.

About Shelter to Soldier:

Shelter to Soldier™ (www.sheltertosoldier.org)is a CA 501c3 non-profit organization that adopts dogs from local shelters and trains them to become psychiatric service dogs for post-9/11 combat veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or other psychological injuries associated with traumatic service experiences.

About Nowzad:

Nowzad (www.nowzad.com) is an organization whose purpose is to relieve the suffering of animals in Afghanistan; including companion animals, working equines, stray and abandoned dogs and cats and all other animals in need of care and attention, by providing and maintaining rescue, rehabilitation and education facilities for the care and treatment of such animals with no voice. Nowzad carries out all the necessary checks and paperwork to get the dog or cat to their loving home, wherever it is, in the world. War zone rescues include Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine and Libya and the new homes for the animals include USA, UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Jordan Thailand and South Africa.

San Diego, CA (November 13, 2018) – Dakota Dickerson got a taste of what it is like to compete in a 4-hour endurance race this weekend in the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore event at Sebring Raceway. Coming over from open-wheel racing, the F4 US Champion was treated to a whole new type of race weekend, thanks to ANSA Motorsports, Ligier and Onroak Automotive.

Photo: ANSA Motorsports

“When I got a call two weeks ago from Alain Nadal at ANSA Motorsports to come and drive an LMP3, it didn’t take me long to say yes” said Dickerson. “It’s a great car. Ultimately, this was a massive opportunity, especially coming over from Formula cars, as it was the first time I’ve driven this type of car. The good thing is we had an enormous amount of track time this weekend, and that gave me a chance to get used to the car. It was fun to drive.”

Three different classes of cars were grouped together for the Encore weekend, namely the GT4, TCR, and the IMSA Prototype LMP3. ANSA Motorsports fielded three LMP3 cars, with Dickerson sharing the No.2 Ligier machine with co-drivers, Jon Brownson and Neil Alberico. All cars were outfitted with the new Michelin Pilot tires offering good grip on the bumpy Sebring circuit.

Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions were all about getting comfortable with the car, learning the track, practicing pit stops, and looking at data and video to see what improvements were needed. The No. 2 car team recorded a top-five in the second practice with Dickerson logging a top 2 time during his stint in the third practice.

“Driving an LMP3 car is different than a formula car,” commented the San Diego native. “Sitting in an enclosed cockpit, and driving a right-hand-drive car rather than sitting in the middle of the car, took some getting used to. With all of the track time, we were able to come up to speed quickly and start tuning the car for race conditions.”

Unable to make qualifying, the Brownson/Dickerson/Alberico trio started at the back of the LMP3 grid, with Jon Brownson taking the green flag at noon on Sunday under sunny skies. The 4-hour race was filled with excitement and incidents, bringing out a few full-course cautions and drive-thru penalties for some drivers. On Lap 26, 55 minutes into the race, Brownson who had moved up to 9th place, came into the pits for a driver change. Dickerson jumped into the car and was able to unlap the field and was pacing the leaders before he had to pull off next to the tire wall near Turn 9 due to a mechanical issue.

It wasn’t the way Dakota Dickerson wanted to end the weekend, however he was grateful for the great opportunity he was given and the unbelievable experience. Dickerson stated “I am very thankful to Onroak Automotive and Ansa Motorsports for the opportunity to drive the Ligier JS P3 car. Because of the clutch issue we experienced, we didn’t get the results we wanted but I did enjoy every bit of IMSA this weekend and would love to do more sports car racing with Ligier and Onroak next year if the opportunity arises. Congrats to Kyle Kirkwood and Roman De Angelis for winning the race. Also, a big thank you to my teammates Jon Brownson and Neil Alberico for such an enjoyable weekend.”

Dakota Dickerson is a third-generation racer from San Diego, CA. The 21-year old has been racing since he was 6 years old and is currently the 2018 champion in the F4 US Championship powered by Honda. In his first two years of racing cars he won a Driver Development scholarship from Bryan Herta Autosport (2-time Indy 500 winning team), a Karts to Cars scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School, was chosen to be one of two drivers to represent the United States overseas via the Team USA Scholarship and was the 2016 USF2000 Mazda Scholarship Driver. With this success, he hopes to continue on to the Verizon INDYCAR Series.

ABOUT IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 and owns a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and the IMSA Prototype Challenge as well as four one-make series: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama; Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama; Ferrari Challenge North America; and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. IMSA – a company within the NASCAR family – is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. For more information, visit www.IMSA.com, www.twitter.com/IMSA or www.facebook.com/IMSA.

Millville, NJ (September 20, 2018) – The best way to describe Dakota Dickerson’s Formula 4 United States Championship Powered by Honda race weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park is “AWESOME”. In Dickerson’s words: “Clinching the Championship is a dream come true!”

Photo: Gavin Baker

With only two race events left in the season, DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports driver Dakota Dickerson welcomed a few sponsors who recently came on board to support him for the remainder of the 2018 season. Although these sponsors are based in Austin, Texas, they travelled all the way to New Jersey Motorsports Park to cheer him on at this past weekend’s F4 U.S. Championship races.

While Hurricane Florence was looming to the southeast, damp weather affected the 2.25-mile 12-turn Thunderbolt Raceway circuit at NJMP during Friday morning’s session. After the first practice, Dickerson described the track as being wet but a lot of fun to drive. “It’s really high speed in the first three corners that are fairly quick and then you get into the back half and it starts to slow down with a lot of long duration corners. It’s relatively flat as well. Racing-wise, the really long front straight will make for good racing.”

On Saturday afternoon, Dickerson’s #9 RoxBalden/Stress Engineering Services machine started 2nd on the grid under partly cloudy skies for Round 13. The young Californian had a bit of a slow start but managed to come back and keep his 2nd position until the end of what turned out to be an “all-green” race.

“It was a pretty good race overall” said Dickerson. “I didn’t get quite the jump on the start that I wanted to, then I made a mistake coming out of Turn 3, fell back to 3rd, then battled my way back up to 2nd. From there, we were trying to put pressure on Jose (Blanco), but couldn’t quite get it. We thought the lap traffic might be able to help us out a little but it wasn’t quite the opportunity to make the risk for the Championship, so we settled down in 2nd place for the finish. We still have good pace for the second race and it looks like we are starting P2 tomorrow, so from there, we’ll try and push for the win.”

Dickerson started from the second position for Sunday morning’s Round 14 but he had a flying start and took the lead as soon as the green flag flew. One lap later, the race was under caution resulting from a 2-car incident on the front straight. The goal at that point was to keep the rest of the 32-car field behind him on the re-start. After a second full-course yellow later in the race, the DC Autosport driver just kept his focus, stayed in front and won the race. The San Diego native was all smiles when asked to comment on his race.

“It was a really good race. We had a good start. I took first right at the first corner, and from there, all I did was try to hold off the other guys on the re-starts. I had pressure from Kent (Vaccaro) and then Joshua (Car) and that was a little tricky initially. But after that, it was all about keeping the pace, getting the win, and focusing on the last race of the weekend.”

Round 15 was not only another victory for Dakota Dickerson, it was the win that allowed him to clinch the F4 U.S. Championship. Dickerson was on fire. He started second again on the grid, moved into first place but during a re-start, Teddy Wilson passed him in Turn 1 after gaining speed on the front straight. Dickerson didn’t waste any time. The 21-year old driver took back the lead at Turn 7 and finished on the top step of the podium for the second time on Sunday.

“I feel great! It’s awesome to secure the Championship with these two wins today. Again, we had the pace to be able to extend the lead in this race. But when the full-course yellow came out, the pace car kind of bunched us back up again and the re-starts were a bit tricky with the long straight. That’s where Teddy (Wilson) got us on the outside of Turn 1 on the last re-start. I was able to make a move on him on the outside of Turn 7 with two laps to go, and from there, it was just a matter of putting our head down and getting that final win. It’s amazing to be able to say that we’ve secured the Championship with one weekend left. All the DC Autosport guys put in so much hard work throughout the season. It’s been a battle, so to be able to win like this is just incredible. I need to thank the Team and my sponsors RoxBalden, Stress Engineering Services, Belterra Eyecare, Austin Traffic Signal Construction Company, and Sabelt. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it this far.”

Photo: Dickerson Racing

“The whole Team is so happy for Dakota,” said DC Autosport Team Owner/Engineer Don Conner as he reflected on the three days. “I think the whole weekend went well. I hadn’t been here in a long time, so it was almost like coming to a new track, but we got up to speed really fast. Dakota did a great job. We qualified well, had good races. It was nice to be back on the podium in such a strong way. Two wins and a second place and a Championship. We couldn’t ask for any better. We didn’t expect to wrap it up this weekend because the competition has been so strong all season. It’ll be nice to show up for the last race at COTA and be a lot more relaxed than we would have been otherwise.”

Be sure to join us for the final Formula 4 U.S. Championship race weekend of the season on October 19-21, 2018 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). All sessions can be followed on Race Monitor.

Dakota Dickerson is a third-generation racer from San Diego, CA. The 21-year old has been racing since he was 6 years old and is currently racing with DC Autosport with Cape Motorsports in the Formula 4 U.S. Championship. In his first two years of racing cars he won a Driver Development scholarship from Bryan Herta Autosport (2-time Indianapolis 500 winning team), a Karts to Cars scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School, was chosen to be one of two drivers to represent the United States overseas via the Team USA Scholarship and was the 2016 USF2000 Mazda Scholarship Driver. With this success, he hopes to continue on to the Verizon INDYCAR Series.

About SCCA Pro Racing:

SCCA Pro Racing is a division of the Sports Car Club of America, Inc. -- a 65,000-member organization dedicated to motorsports. SCCA Pro Racing provides full-service organization, operation, and sanctioning for numerous professional racing series such as Trans Am® and Formula E.

About the Formula 4 U.S. Championship:

FIA F4 is designed as entry-level open-wheel racing for participants, around a contemporary, modern, cost conscious formula. SCCA Pro Racing and its chosen partners embrace these ideals and support this vision through advanced technology and products. The selected F4 power plant is a production-based engine powering the Honda Civic® Type R® recently launched in Europe, tuned to meet FIA-mandated output of approximately 160 hp. The engine and the ECU are sealed to provide parity and compliance. The Ligier JS F4 carbon fiber chassis, the Pirelli Tires, and Honda engine are assembled in Denver, North Carolina by Onroak Automotive North America.

San Diego, CA (Sept. 6, 2018) – Dakota Dickerson Racing announced today the addition of Austin-based Belterra Eyecare, as a new sponsor for the remainder of the 2018 F4 U.S. Championship season. One of Dickerson’s present supporters Roxanna Balden Anslyn (@RoxBalden) of RoxBalden LLC domiciled in Austin, Texas played an important role in making this happen.

The young California driver was delighted to welcome the new sponsor. "It is really exciting to have the generous support of another Austin, TX based company,” he said. Having Belterra Eyecare come on board is crucial in insuring we are able to fight for the championship in the final weekends of the F4US Championship. Belterra offers top quality support and service to all of their customers in the Austin area and I hope to make them proud in the coming weeks!”

Robert Ramp, President of Belterra Eyecare commented, “We’ve been hearing a lot about Dakota Dickerson in the news recently, as he’s been doing really well in his racing. We know he is a talented upcoming driver, and we decided we wanted to come on board and help him out with some support. We’re excited to be part of Dakota Dickerson Racing and his Team, and look forward to seeing him race at COTA during the F1 race weekend in October. Dakota will also be stopping by our new local store in Dripping Springs to sign autographs for clients and fans on Wednesday afternoon of race week at COTA.”

Dickerson who is driving for DC Autosport is gearing up for a big weekend next week at New Jersey as it is imperative that he keep his 26-point lead for the Championship. “Right now, my focus is on the Championship. New Jersey will be all about gaining as many points as possible” says the San Diego native.

Be sure to join us for the next F4US race weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 14-16. Race times are as follows:

Dakota Dickerson is a third-generation racer from San Diego, CA. The 21-year old has been racing since he was 6 years old and is currently racing with DC Autosport in the F4 US Championship. In his first two years of racing cars he won a Driver Development scholarship from Bryan Herta Autosport (two-time Indianapolis 500 winning team), a Karts to Cars scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School, was chosen to be one of two drivers to represent the United States overseas via the Team USA Scholarship and was the 2016 USF2000 Mazda Scholarship Driver. With this success, he hopes to continue on to the Verizon INDYCAR Series.

About Belterra Eyecare

Belterra Eyecare was recently founded by Dr. Robert Ramp. It is a full-service independent optometry clinic located in one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in Dripping Springs, TX and Austin, TX offering a wide range of optometric services, eye care products including eyeglasses, specialty eyewear, frames, and contact lenses.

Dr. Robert Ramp is a licensed therapeutic optometrist and optometric glaucoma specialist. He graduated from the University of Kansas and received his Doctor of Optometry degree, with honors, from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana where he served as an associate instructor in Ophthalmic Optics. During his fourth year, he received additional training in ocular disease and primary care at U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs Medical Centers in Hudson Valley, New York; Tallahassee, Florida; and Columbia, South Carolina.

Dr. Ramp is experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions such as dry eye, ocular allergies, glaucoma and diabetes. He has special interest in the treatment and management of childhood eye conditions such as amblyopia and severe myopia. He has also been trained in pre- and post-operative LASIK and cataract surgery patient care.

Dr. Ramp believes in giving back, too. He has volunteered his time providing vision screenings to elementary schools, AAU Junior Olympics and Special Olympics events across the U.S., and lectured to several senior organizations and health fairs. He is an active member of the Central Texas Optometric Society and Beta Sigma Kappa Optometric Honor Society. Dr. Ramp has lived and practiced optometry in South Austin since moving here in 2011 and is proud to call Texas home.

About SCCA Pro Racing:

SCCA Pro Racing is a division of the Sports Car Club of America, Inc. -- a 65,000-member organization dedicated to motorsports. SCCA Pro Racing provides full-service organization, operation and sanctioning for numerous professional racing series such as Trans Am® and Formula E.

About the F4 U.S. Championship:

FIA F4 is designed as entry-level open-wheel racing for participants, around a contemporary, modern, cost conscious formula. SCCA Pro Racing and its chosen partners embrace these ideals and support this vision through advanced technology and products. The selected F4 power plant is a production-based engine powering the Honda Civic® Type R® recently launched in Europe, tuned to meet FIA-mandated output of approximately 160 hp. The engine and the ECU are sealed to provide parity and compliance. The Ligier JS F4 carbon fiber chassis, the Pirelli Tires and Honda engine are assembled in Denver, North Carolina by Onroak Automotive North America.

Portland, OR (September 3, 2018) – The last time USF2000 cars hit the track at Portland International Raceway was in 2006, so needless to say, racing at Portland this weekend was “a first” for all the young drivers in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda.

Dakota Dickerson showed up at Portland with nothing but “Get Well Wishes” in his heart and on his helmet for recently injured IndyCar driver Robert Wickens.

Dickerson and the ArmsUp Motorsports Team spent the first part of the weekend trying to find a baseline setup and looking for a little more speed in the car. Qualifying was a bit of a struggle on Friday as the California driver was not able to get his #9 RoxBalden Mazda powered-machine higher than 13th on the grid for Saturday’s race.

On Saturday afternoon, under 68-degree partly cloudy skies, a field of 18 cars let loose and went racing for Round 13, the penultimate race of the season. Dickerson is known for his great starts, and this was no exception as he passed three cars going from 13th to 10th place as soon as the green flag flew, while car #24 (Kaylen Frederick) was sent into the run-off area at Turn 1 as a result of a two-car bumping incident on the start. Frederick rejoined the race and tried to battle his way back up the field. This being the last race event of the season, cars were diving into the corners “four and five-wide” as drivers were vying for Championship points. By Lap 12, Dickerson had charged up to 8th position before a full-course caution was brought out to remove car #82 (Bruna Tomaselli) that went off track trying to avoid a multi-car incident. On the re-start, with only four laps to go, things got a little crazy and Dickerson lost a few positions as he was trying to avoid getting into trouble, and keep the car in one piece for the next and last race. The San Diego native finished in 10th place as the race checkered, but was happy to find out he’d been elevated to 8th place after Race Control officials handed out post-race penalties for avoidable contact to four drivers.

“Starting in the 13th spot, I knew we were going to be in the thick of it all going into Turn 1,” said Dickerson. “I decided to let the mayhem unfold in front of me and was able to capitalize on a couple of drivers getting into each other. We were then able to get around a couple more cars before the full course caution came out. After losing a couple spots on the restart, we ended the race in the top 10 which was great for the team!”

Sunday’s Round 14 had a bit of a chaotic start with cars piling up on Lap 1 causing contact between cars #41 (Braden Eaves) and #12 (Jose Sierra) followed by a full-course yellow. Dakota Dickerson started 11th on the grid, hoping to bring home a Top-5 finish for the ArmsUp Motorsports Team who had worked so hard all weekend trying to find that perfect setup. On Lap 3, the race went green again, and one lap later, Dickerson had moved up to 8th spot. Some drivers were racing aggressively fighting for positions and year-end Championship points resulting in one driver getting a drive-thru penalty. The young Californian kept his cool and ended up in 7th place when the checker flag flew.

The 21-year old driver reflected on the race and his overall weekend. “Race 2 was quite busy at the start. We were again able to make up a few positions in the first couple corners and maintained a top-10 result for the team. It was a lot of fun spending the weekend with the ArmsUp boys for the USF2000 finale,” added Dickerson with a smile.

“We didn’t end the season with the results we wanted but I know the guys are strong and have a program that will give their drivers an opportunity to run up front next year. I can’t express enough how thankful I am for the opportunity they gave me.”

Be sure to join us for Dakota Dickerson’s next F4 US Championship’s official race on September 14-16, 2018 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. All sessions can be followed on Race Monitor.

Dakota Dickerson is a third-generation racer from San Diego, CA. The 21-year old has been racing since he was 6 years old and is currently racing with DC Autosport in the F4 US Championship. In his first two years of racing cars he won a Driver Development scholarship from Bryan Herta Autosport (2-time Indianapolis 500 winning team), a Karts to Cars scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School, was chosen to be one of two drivers to represent the United States overseas via the Team USA Scholarship and was the 2016 USF2000 Mazda Scholarship Driver. With this success, he hopes to continue on to the Verizon INDYCAR Series.

About ArmUp Motorsports:

Based in Sheboygan Falls, WI., ArmsUp Motorsports was established in 1995 by twenty-year lead instructor for Skip Barber Racing School, Gregg Borland. It has since then grown to be a leading team in the world of motorsports. ArmsUp Motorsports is a full-service prep facility with a team of highly experienced mechanics, driving coaches, and engineers readily available to assist in the success of each driver. The team specializes in Pro F2000, Formula Continental, Formula Atlantic, and Vintage Car racing. For more information please visit the official ArmsUp website at www.ArmsUpMotorsports.com.

About the USF2000 Championship:

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda debuted in 2010 and is a continuation of the highly regarded USF2000 series which ran from 1990 through 2006, launching the careers of many of today’s top drivers. Sanctioned by INDYCAR, the series is the first official step on the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires - a clearly defined path to reach the top echelons of the sport. In addition to providing a vital training ground for rising stars, the series champion will earn a scholarship package from Mazda of $325,000 to advance to the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the next step on the ladder system.